PARA
Snakes are sliding
down my legs
from my groin
slithering down
chilly longish
slippery snakes
without hissing
slithering down
I know that it
isn't real
for I'm lying in bed
and want to get up
but I'm not able
my whole body's
paralyzed fused
with the mattress
the sissy sheets
I know that it
isn't real
I know that it
isn't real
outside the sun
is grabbing at the clouds
but they wont get out
the way and so
there is darkness
in the darkness uproar
reigns I cant put up
with uproar then
the stars begin
to fall I donut
like that
I know that it
isn't real
I know that it
isn't real
it comes from
the heat with a heat
like this a person
cant breathe normally
fish feel the same too
I'm well aware
that roots are sprouting
from my back because
I cannot move
a body needs nurture
and a body feels thirst
its good
to have roots
they will find
find moisture.
© Tjitse
Hofman, 1999
© translation
John Irons, 2000
original title: Para, from TV 2000, Passage
Publishing Company, Groningen, 1999